Ohio State pitchers were throwing plenty of strikes against Miami (Ohio), but unfortunately for OSU, Miami got their bats on the ball in a 12-4 win over the Buckeyes.

The Redhawks (15-14) combined for 13 hits against seven Ohio State (10-12) pitchers, including five unearned runs that came on five errors on defense.

Coach Greg Beals said the team did not come to play today and that he got on the team after the game about their lack of preparedness.

“We had an in-state school come in here and kick our butts, I mean just kicked our butts in every aspect of the game,” Beals said. “It’s a shame because every time they put that uniform on they’re representing a great university and they got to be prepared to do that.”

After a 1-1 first inning, Miami broke open the game in the second with four runs.

They added four runs in the next three innings and then put the cap on the game with a three run ninth against senior pitcher Jared Strayer.

Sophomore relief pitcher David Fathalikhani said they were inconsistent on throwing strikes. 

“They were aggressive at the plate and did a great job at attacking fast balls early on in the count, Fathalikhani said. “They set the tone for their team early.

Beals said the Buckeyes will get back to work tomorrow and prepare for their next series this weekend at Indiana.

“We’ll start our recovery process tomorrow,” Beals said. “We got to put it away and get ready to go again on Friday.”

OSU Hitting

The Buckeyes were only able to get five hits against an array of Miami’s five pitchers. Starting pitcher Ryan Meyers only allowed two hits and one run on five innings of work. The rest of the Miami pitching staff held OSU to three hits and three runs.

“Tonight was not a good game for us, hitting just didn’t go how we planned,” sophomore catcher Greg Solomon said. “We know we need to come back this weekend against Indiana and play how we know how to play.”

Errors

The teams combined for a total of eight errors and six unearned runs on the night. This was the second consecutive game for OSU where the game contained more than five errors.

“The difference today was we didn’t play very good defense at all,” Beals said. “We didn’t help on defense and we walked guys.”

Kuchno’s Struggles

Kuchno has now gone to 0-3 on the year with a 9.56 ERA. After only lasting three innings and giving up four runs and two home runs today, Beals said Kuchno has not been sharp and that he just needs to attack the strike zone better and not get into bad counts.

“John’s got to have as much confidence in himself as we have in him as a coaching staff,” Beals said. “We think this guy has potential, he’s just got to get that in his own mind.”